Improve Resident Retention through These 3 Methods

As a property manager, maintaining a high resident retention rate is an everyday priority. It goes hand in hand with keeping renter satisfaction high and developing a good reputation for your rental property. If you start to see your retention rate decline, consider doing one of these three methods to incentivize your residents into staying.

Offer a Competitive Amenity or Make Upgrades If the competition in your rental market is getting fierce, and your residents are leaving to live with your rivals, take a look at what the properties around you are offering. Are their rental prices cheaper? Do they have new amenities installed? Or have they made upgrades to their rental property? While it’ll take some time to propose a new amenity or upgrade for your own community, now might be time. Offering something new will not only attract new applicants and level the playing field in your rental market, but it’ll also help to improve your resident retention rate.

Fix Broken Systems If you get frequent feedback that your residents are frustrated by one of your internal procedures, then you might want to consider fixing that. Even though getting your staff on board a new procedure or software can be challenging, it can greatly influence your resident happiness levels. In the era of Apple Pay, Venmo and Paypal, one of the biggest complaints modern renters have is the lack of online rent payment options. Consider looking into a way to collect rent online with services like Payrent.com to keep your property’s costs minimal and your residents content.

Resident Appreciation EventsResidents will feel a lot less inclined to leave if they feel like they (and their family) are a part of your community. Events like Easter egg hunts, trick or treating, and Christmas wrapping events can build bonds between your residents. While resident events can be tricky to plan, no matter how big or small your budget is, finding ways to show your appreciation for your renters will boost your property manager-resident relationships and build renter loyalty.

While there is no one solution to increasing resident retention across all of your properties, challenging yourself to build your relationships with your renters, upgrading the property to stay competitive, and fixing internal procedures that cause a divide will drastically affect your property. Plus, if a valuable resident comes to you about leaving due to a rent raise, you can always consider negotiating.

Becky Bower is the Communications Executive here at the Resident Screening Blog. She holds a degree in English, with a focus in creative writing, from CSU Channel Islands. Her biggest weakness is cake and favorite superhero is Batman.